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Master's Candidate Financial Aid

Once Master's Candidates complete their undergraduate degree program, they need to consider how they will pay the cost of enrolling in the Graduate School. When thinking about how to pay for your graduate education, you need to consider two options:

Financial assistance given to a Master's Candidate to complete a BS/BA degree will end when upon undergraduate graduation. Undergraduate scholarships do not “carry over” to the graduate school, even if you attained your bachelor’s degree in fewer than eight semesters. Graduate financial aid policies go into effect once a Master's Candidate completes their BA/BS degree, and the student enrolls in a graduate program.

Consider all of your options before making a final decision about what type of aid to apply for. Attend a Financing your Graduate Education workshop in your senior year to learn more about need-based aid.

Need-Based Aid

The following information is for Master's Candidate students who plan on applying for need-based aid.

The Office of Financial Assistance is responsible for administering need-based aid to qualified candidates. Please review carefully. Applying for graduate financial assistance is very similar to the undergraduate process. Students are required to file the following documents:

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)

Bentley Graduate Aid Application

Signed copy of their most recent federal tax return and W-2 Form(s)

The CSS Profile Form*

Students should be sure to indicate Bentley’s FAFSA code is 002124 and the CSS Profile code for graduate students is 3098. Be aware that the FAFSA form can take up to two weeks to be processed.

By virtue of the fact that you are entering a graduate program, you are considered independent by federal standards and are not required to report parent information on the FAFSA; however, you are considered “independent” for federal aid only. Your eligibility for federal loans will be based on your income and asset information alone. There are two types of Federal Direct Stafford Loans, subsidized and unsubsidized. Of the $20,500 you can borrow each year, no more than $8,500 can come from the subsidized program.

Bentley has a limited amount of institutional need-based grant money to award to graduate students. Please consider this when making the decision as to whether or not to provide parental information in the graduate financial aid process. Neither federal nor state grants are available to graduate students. While Bentley University is committed to assisting needy students at the graduate level, funding is limited. As a rule, a lesser percentage of need is covered by grant funding and you can expect your financial aid package to be more heavily weighted towards federal loans (most students qualify for $20,500).

*Regarding the CSS Profile Form: If you plan to enroll as a full-time graduate student (minimum of 9 credits) and wish to be considered for institutional need-based grant programs, you must furnish parent information on the CSS Profile Form. An estimated parent contribution will be calculated and taken into account in determining your eligibility for a Bentley Graduate Need Grant.

Merit-Based Aid

The McCallum Graduate School of Business awards merit-based aid to academically outstanding students admitted to a Master’s degree program. The Graduate Admission Office is responsible for awarding merit-based aid to qualified candidates. Merit-based awards can be either a graduate assistantship or scholarship. A Master's Candidate who wants to be considered for an award to help with the cost of the graduate degree is required to take the GMAT or GRE.

Applicants who wish to be considered for merit aid are encouraged to apply as early as possible. Merit-based aid is limited for students who enroll in the McCallum Graduate School beginning with the January term. In addition, students that take the GMAT or GRE to be considered for aid should not submit scores that do not meet the minimum 500 (GMAT) or equivalent (GRE) required for admission consideration. Scores submitted will be used as part of the admission evaluation regardless of a student's 3.20 GPA standing.

Students must submit the following to be considered for merit-based aid: